It took 75 years, but the U.S. Men's Soccer team finally won a game in Mexico thanks to a 1-0 win in a skeleton-crew friendly on Wednesday night at Estadio Azteca. The result was about as meaningful as meaningless games get.

Old-timers' games aren't traditionally the place to find heated competition. But this weekend's Legends Challenge benefit game between the United States and Mexico isn't your average old-timer's game—mostly because, even for players who have been off the field for a decade or more, this isn't your average rivalry.

As individuals, Bird and Magic had little to do with the racial debates around which they acquired so much symbolic weight in the 1980s. Really, the Magic/Bird rivalry became a national obsession first and foremost because of their transcendence on the court. The Broadway production Magic/Bird is the latest attempt to recapture that.